craft

  • |

    Betty Boo Bat—Halloween Sock Doll

    ByHeather Bailey

    FREE Pattern and Sewing Kit! Betty Boo Bat—Halloween Sock Doll—FOUR Designs to Choose From


    CasparBatSockDoll_BettyBoo

    Hello, friends! It’s time for some fall-time fun. I have four ADORABLE Betty Boo Sock Doll Kits in the store this fall: Ziggy, Pumpkin, Trixie, and Caspar. Each bat-doll kit includes a sock, fabric, felt, multiple buttons, embroidery floss, ribbon—AND the FULL SEWING PATTERN! Each complete kit is priced at ONLY $12.95, a great fall project and gift. Collect all four!

    Find all of our popular bat-doll, purse, and pincushion kits in the Other Fun Stuff section of the store.

    PumpkinBatSockDoll_BettyBooWith a purchase of $35 or more, enjoy one FREE bat doll kit which includes all materials (except stuffing) AND the pattern ($12.95 value). Once your purchase adds up to $35 or more, add your choice of bat doll to your cart as well. Enter promo code FREEBATKIT at checkout. The price of one kit will be removed from your total — a $12.95 value.*

    ZiggyBatSockDoll_BettyBooPsst…the promotion info and promo code is also posted on the home page of the store. Please share a link with your friends and family.

    TrixieBatSockDoll_BettyBoo*One FREE kit per customer. This offer expires 10-31-19, at midnight MST, or while supplies last. If making a bat doll for a small child, please make sure all parts are securely sewn together, and that no embellishments present a choking hazard.

    Here’s a link to The Heather Bailey Store. 🙂

  • Paper Moon

    ByHeather Bailey

    PaperOwls

    Check out these super-fun paper stitcheries from Belinda Moon of Australia. She
    starts with colorful craft papers and adds rows of free-form stitching
    which adds visual movement—and panache.

    I discovered Belinda's work in the HB Paper Crafts Flickr Group. I was
    thrilled to see such a perfect and adorable use for my scrapbook papers. They almost
    look like they are made out of fabric, don't they?

    PaperElephant2

    If you think these are fantastic,
    like I do, brighten Belinda's day with a kind comment here, or at her blog. She has an Etsy store too, with birds, fish, pirate ships, robots—all sorts of
    great graphic pieces to decorate with.

    Show Belinda some craft-love.

    PaperButterfly

    NOTE: Such great projects are being posted in the HB Flickr groups—wow, you guys!
    I'm going to make a renewed effort to spotlight some here and there.
    Thank you for posting your projects. I get to craft vicariously through
    you.

  • Patriotic Pear Peculiar

    ByHeather Bailey

    PatrioticPearPincushion_HeatherBailey

    A rambling hello and a Happy 4th of July to you.

    I love me a holiday. I don't always take the day off, but knowing that I could is a relief on its own.

    PatrioticCowboyT2 Today, my day is a mix. So far, I've flitted between shopping with Charlotte for sillybands, managing a play date with cousins, washing the laundry, photographing a pattern cover, sketching aprons and prepping to-do lists for the week. In another hour we head to Granny's house for a swim party and food, then out for fireworks.

    A simple celebration works for me — especially in this heat, with this belly. These days I get winded just walking up the stairs. I tell myself it's a heat/pregnancy/blood-volume thing. It couldn't possibly be my fitness level. I plan to sit. And sip. And sit. It is HOT out there.

    * * * * *

    If you haven't heard, there's a patriotic pack of Trash Ties™ posted in our shop till Labor Day — with a FREEBIE offer good till July 15th (see latest newsletter). And long Trash Ties are BACK! And on super sale. Just sayin.

  • Autumn Napkin Ring Tutorial

    ByHeather Bailey

    Thanksgiving is coming right up. 

    To get into the autumn groove, try stitching up some fall decorations with our designer felt, glitzy thread from DMC, and few glass beads.  With a full table to set, these playful napkin rings pack a big bang for little buck.

    ThanksgivingNapkinRing
    Trimming up the acorns is my favorite part.  Aren’t they fun?  And Charlotte is always game to help embroider — she likes to the pull the needle through, then hand it back to me.  This is a much slower process, as you can imagine, but I love her.

    To share the fun, I’ve put together a tutorial and a free pattern download…



    Read More “Autumn Napkin Ring Tutorial”

  • |

    August in a Cupcake Wrapper

    ByHeather Bailey

    CupcakeBouquet470 Had a birthday. Yep. 

    It was great!  Isaac brought me chocolate cake, mom brought me chocolate cake, and Nica made me a bouquet of chocolate-rose cupcakes ala Carrie — delicious and entirely photo-worthy. (Thank you s'much!)LifeisaPinata  Add to that a great birthday party put on by my sisters, Julia & Merris, and a serious spread of mexican food.  I was far too busy eating chocolate and tacos to blog about it. 

    Other than eating cake round the clock, let's see, I've been busy batting at a variety of moving objects.  Life is a pinata.  One feisty, swingy pinata.

    One project I'm excited to announce is my partnership with Peking Handicraft to produce several housewares collections, including aprons, dishtowels, pillows, and more.  I'll post photos once samples are in hand.  Right now we are aiming for several January releases.

    On the pattern front, I'm introducing two new mini patterns this month.  LOVE them both.  One is the awesome lunch bag pattern I mentioned before and the other is a great little hat pattern — a sort of mixture between a 1920s cloche and a hippie beret.  Patterns & instructions are complete; I just need to wrap up the covers.

    CupcakeT
    I'm also toying with a blog theme idea; tell me your take on Sketchtember.

    Doodle-loo, scribble too — whoop-di-do.

  • Smarty Girl

    ByHeather Bailey

    MEHC_SmartyGirl

    While I'm busy finishing up a jazzy slideshow for Nicey Jane, I thought I'd pop in and share another bit of news.  Who recognizes this photo above? It's from the cover of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion back in May 2008. 

    SmartyGirl
    I hadn't originally planned to publish a pattern for this book bag. 
    However, after hundreds of requests for it, I finally got a clue and
    did the work. The Smarty Girl book bag mini pattern arrives at the studio on Monday and will start shipping out on Tuesday. 

    I
    use my Smarty Girl to carry a sketchbook and pencils. Charlotte has a
    Smarty Girl for her coloring and activity books. It's a simple sew,
    perfect for holiday gifts and birthday presents. You could make one for
    your child for Christmas and fill it with activity books.  With a
    coordinating baby quilt folded up inside, it makes a great shower gift.
    Then, of course, you could do a sketchbook & pencils — my personal
    favorite.

    (Pattern cover features my new collection, Nicey Jane!)

  • |

    Swoon

    ByHeather Bailey

    NiceyJanePicnic
    I'm
    off to Houston for Quilt Market.  The stars have aligned.  As such, I
    am thrilled to debut a new feature fabric collection, a palette of
    cotton solids and an assortment of delicious, laminated prints (my
    samples arrived at the studio just yesterday).  I also have several
    fun, new sewing patterns to share (Henrietta is one of six new patterns).

    If you're heading to Market
    this weekend, stop on by booth #s 1957,59 for a hello — and a first
    peek at my upcoming collection, Nicey Jane™.

    Bring smelling salts.  These fabrics may cause fainting — they're stinkin' gorgeous.

  • Have you Herd?

    ByHeather Bailey

    Make a new friend in Henrietta turtle (or skip the flower corsage and
    make a Henry turtle). Henrietta will gladly house your pins &
    needles or entertain your baby or pet — but not at the same time. She's funny that way.

    HenriettaCvr

    You may have glimpsed my pokey new sewing buddy in my recent interview
    on NBC. This sewing pattern is hot off the press and ready to ship. I'm
    in love. Sitting by my sewing machine, Henrietta reminds me to take my
    time and enjoy the process.

    Fresh from Bingo night, come Edna, Matilda, Eloise, Harriet, Penelope and Gladys. "Shush, dearie. Did that nice young man call B-15?" Six different materials kits available here — pattern sold separately.

    A herd of turtles. Or as my dad likes to say, "A terd of hurtles."

    TurtleKits

  • Gilding my Sneakers

    ByHeather Bailey

    CEclass72

    I've just returned from Creative Escape,
    a several-day craft-a-thon with hundreds of enthusiastic and kind women
    from all over the world: Japan, Canada, France, Australia, the U.S.
    Though I taught all day a couple of days in a row, I'm surprisingly
    refreshed. I blame it on the touching & funny keynote addresses
    presented by Heidi Swapp & Melanie Wellman — and my decision to wear tennis shoes instead of heels. 

    CEclassA72

    The CE students went out of their way to express their excitement
    for my class, bring gifts (chocolate, jewelry, handmade cards, hair
    clips, etc.), and make the experience fulfilling for us teachers as
    well. (Thank you, ladies!)

    All 700 or so in attendance were deeply moved by the response to
    CE's designer lamp fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
    the final evening. All of the teachers at the event, and from past
    years, donated a hand-built, one-of-a-kind lamp to be sold in silent
    auction — all $ going straight through to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

    72CE2009

    To
    add excitement to the final evening, two of the lamps were sold at live
    auction. One bidder forked out $29,000 for charity to get her hands on
    Tim Holtz' lamp (neat girl too), and Heidi's lamp raised over $8000.
    Without gushing on, I'll just say I was seriously moved. I think we all
    were. It was a great time. Thank you, Heidi & the Bazzill team for
    including me in this year's event.

    CEstudents72

    So…Now
    that the cat's out of the bag on the fundraiser, I can finally show
    photos of my lamp design — think tweet, tweet, chirp, chirp. I'll
    gather up some photos to post.

    It's great to be back. I'm wrapping up several big projects (hallelujah!) this week before heading out to Utah to deliver a keynote address at the Start-Up Princess event
    on September 11th. If you're anywhere near South Jordan, Utah next
    weekend, sign up for Friday's event and come say 'hi'. Or visit me at Material Girls
    quilt shop on Saturday the 12th — around 1ish (till 3ish?), I think. 
    I'll post a sure time as soon as it's confirmed. I'll also be on t.v.
    on Thursday, the 10th at Studio 5 in Salt Lake City. As for the rest of the trip — I'll probably be sleeping, huh?

  • Lemon Drop & Other Fine Passwords

    ByHeather Bailey

    HPBannerFinalTall

    LemonDrops470_2

    Not
    all witches have time to concoct a full spread of Harry Potter recipes,
    especially if they are short a house elf or two!  So for those of you
    who would like to delve into the world of Harry Potter without the
    chocolate-dipping and butterbeer-mixing, I've searched out a few
    easily-accessible, store-bought options for you.

    ChocolateFrogs470

    Lemon
    Drops, Chocolate Frogs, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are my top
    choices for store-bought, trolley-worthy treats.  They can be enjoyed
    by first years and ministry wizards alike.  Honestly, I can't believe I
    found chocolate frogs with so little searching.  (See 'Where to Buy'
    list below.)

    Another non-alcoholic beverage option includes Lemon Drop Soda.  Mix 2 parts sparkling water with 1 part Stirrings brand Lemon Drop Mixer, and give that Dumbledore a toast. 

    If
    you prefer a lighter soda, reduce the Lemon Drop Mixer to your liking. 
    Isaac swears by the addition of a tablespoon of vanilla flavoring syrup.

    LemonDropSoda300wWhere to Buy
    • Old-fashioned lemon drops – Pier One Imports.
    • Chocolate Frogs – Pier One Imports or mold your own chocolate frogs.
    • Every Flavor Beans – Jelly Belly brand
    jelly beans – your local grocer — or for an authentic Bertie Bott's
    mix, including nasty flavors, such as vomit & ear wax, here are a
    few links: one, two, three.
    • Stirrings brand Lemon Drop Mixer — spotted this week at Pier One, World Market, and SuperTarget, or purchase online.
    • Sparkling Water or Club Soda – your local grocer.

    Now
    take your sugar high and do something good with it, like treat your
    kids to a movie or some broom-crafting, then come back home and crash-out. That's the way the sugar goes. I have some experience with this
    now. 

    Next week, I'm off the broomstick, cauldron-less, and
    back in Little Winging, I swear.  Have a great weekend Harry Potter
    fans — don't forget to brush your teeth.

    • Cockroach Clusters recipe here.
    • Butterbeer recipe here.
    • Mini Broomsticks tutorial here.
    • Chocolate Wands recipe here.

    LemonDropSoda470